Important agri sector crumbling due to neglect
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Profiteers keeping millions hungry for earnings
Meetings, half-hearted steps will not revive agriculture
Convener FPCCI Central Standing Committee on Insurance Dr. Murtaza Mughal on Saturday said the most important sector of agriculture is crumbling due to continued disregard by the authorities.
Profiteers are also hurting this sector and keeping millions hungry for illegal profits while all the efforts to contain mafia has failed, he added.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal said that majority of the population is facing food security issues which cannot be resolved through meetings, statements and half-hearted steps.
He said that this sector is called the backbone of the economy but it is unable to provide required raw material to the industrial sector or feed growing population due to indifference of the government.
Dr. Murtaza Mughal who is also President of the Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) said that agriculture can only be revived when issues like fake and sub-standard pesticides, seed, middlemen, food mafia and high cost of inputs is tackled.
Loansharks have also played their role in destroying this critical sector while some wealthy industrialists have also targeted this sector to make billions overnight, he observed.
Loans and other facilities are mostly enjoyed by wealthy landlords, small farmers are left in the lurch while agriculture insurance has not taken roots due to obvious reasons.
This sector must be insulated from opportunists, climate change and natural disaster while the food supply chain disrupted by virus should be restored without delay.
The rural population is not only ignored by the governments but also the media pushing them out of the mainstream and stoking poverty which must be reversed through proper policymaking, he demanded.
